Over the last couple of years we have featured a number of gents who at one time or other felt entitled to call themselves the King of Tsonga Disco: Paul Ndlovu, Peta Teanet, Penny Penny, General Muzka, even - a little prematurely - that young whippersnapper Madlaks. But we have never featured a true Queen of Tsonga Disco. Until today.
Esta M is a former teacher who in 1994 teamed up with our old friend, the Shangaan Svengali himself, Mr Joe Shirimani. Over the next few years they released eight albums and Esta had many hits and won many awards. The most recent album of hers that I have seen was "Norho", released in 2005 and produced by Frans Africa and Mzee, but I assume she is still going strong.
Here are a couple of tracks from a compilation catchily titled "The Best of Esta M", released in 2003. Both of them are Joe Shirimani productions.
"Tsasa Jive" - Esta M
"Mabibi" - Esta M
Not speaking the Tsonga language, I am not sure what Esta is singing about on "Mabibi". But if it is a love song, someone ought to make her aware that she is wasting her time as Mabibi just cares for Nina Simone.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Mortal Combat
As regular readers of this drivel will know, I have to go over to Brussels for work a few times a year. While there I always try to find time to pop down to the Matonge district to trawl through the Congolese record shops. Pickings are not as good as they used to be since Musicanova shut down, but there are still gems to be had. Such as "Mortel Combat", the 2005 album by Alain & Bouro Mpela, which I picked up on my last visit. This is them in their everyday wear:
And as a Sunday bonus, some more musical brothers.
Actually, there are loads of them, aren't there? Watch out for a special brothers themed post here some time soon.
Bouro used to play with Koffi Olomide, but apart from that I don't know much about them. On this album they are backed by Alain's band, Generation A, and a very good job they do too. Mostly rumba, but with the occasional bit of reggae and a 1980s soul vibe thrown in. Here are the first three tracks from the album.
"Mortel Combat" - Alain & Bouro Mpela
"Aicha" - Alain & Bouro Mpela
"Passage Obligé" - Alain & Bouro Mpela
From the same album, here they are all done up in their glad rags. I particularly enjoy the entirely random reference to mozzarella at 3:29.
And as a Sunday bonus, some more musical brothers.
Actually, there are loads of them, aren't there? Watch out for a special brothers themed post here some time soon.
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Riots Part 2
I have no wish to keep harping on about the riots, which are hopefully now behind us, but I think it is instructive to look at what the commentators are saying. Specifically calypsonian commentators.
Some have suggested that deploying more female police officers might have a calming effect. But judging by Mighty Terror's reaction, there must be a risk that it would simply exacerbate matters.
"Women Police In England" - Mighty Terror & His Calypsonians
Invader and Gabby, on the other hand, are clearly setting out to appeal to Daily Mail readers.
"Teddy Boy (Bring Back The Old Cat-o-Nine)" - Lord Invader
"Pow Pow (Arm The Police)" - Mighty Gabby
Lord Melody, as always, follows a path of his own. His story of a police officer struggling with a recalcitrant jackass may not appear immediately relevant, but I am sure there is a moral in there somewhere.
"In The Name Of The Law" - Lord Melody
Finally, the greatest calypsonian of them all, the Mighty Sparrow, had a terrifying first-hand experience of gang behaviour. Fortunately he lived to tell the tale.
Some have suggested that deploying more female police officers might have a calming effect. But judging by Mighty Terror's reaction, there must be a risk that it would simply exacerbate matters.
"Women Police In England" - Mighty Terror & His Calypsonians
Invader and Gabby, on the other hand, are clearly setting out to appeal to Daily Mail readers.
"Teddy Boy (Bring Back The Old Cat-o-Nine)" - Lord Invader
"Pow Pow (Arm The Police)" - Mighty Gabby
Lord Melody, as always, follows a path of his own. His story of a police officer struggling with a recalcitrant jackass may not appear immediately relevant, but I am sure there is a moral in there somewhere.
"In The Name Of The Law" - Lord Melody
Finally, the greatest calypsonian of them all, the Mighty Sparrow, had a terrifying first-hand experience of gang behaviour. Fortunately he lived to tell the tale.
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
London's Burning
This post is fairly self-explanatory. I'm not going to get into the rights and wrongs of it all, but I do have one question for the disaffected youths who were making a political statement round the corner from me in Bethnal Green Road last night - what is the bloody point of looting Specsavers?
"London's Burning" - The Clash
"Babylon's Burning" - The Ruts
"2nd Floor Croydon" - Burnin' Red Ivanhoe
"Teenage Rampage" - Sweet
"London's Burning" - The Clash
"Babylon's Burning" - The Ruts
"2nd Floor Croydon" - Burnin' Red Ivanhoe
"Teenage Rampage" - Sweet
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Keeping In Touch
If it is Sunday, it must be Sweden in 1970. Local band Contact team up with a visiting Kim Fowley to produce an English language album, "Nobody Wants To Be Sixteen", with an eye on the international market. Despite being a very good pop-psych album, in a sort of Swedish Badfinger style, it fails in that objective.
"What's That" - Contact
"How Was Your Summer" - Contact
So for their next album they revert to Swedish and a folkier sound. "Hon Kom Over Mon" comes out in 1971 and wins a Grammy. People, eh? Totally unpredictable.
"Vägen Gick Vindlande Grå" - Contact
"Nobody Wants To Be Sixteen" and "Hon Kom Over Mon" were reissued as a two CD set by MNW in 2009. Whether you can get it outside Sweden I have no idea. I picked up my copy in Stockholm for abour four quid a few months back, and it was well worth it.
Speaking of Badfinger, here they are in 1972 being introduced by a not yet smoothed over Kenny Rogers.
"What's That" - Contact
"How Was Your Summer" - Contact
So for their next album they revert to Swedish and a folkier sound. "Hon Kom Over Mon" comes out in 1971 and wins a Grammy. People, eh? Totally unpredictable.
"Vägen Gick Vindlande Grå" - Contact
"Nobody Wants To Be Sixteen" and "Hon Kom Over Mon" were reissued as a two CD set by MNW in 2009. Whether you can get it outside Sweden I have no idea. I picked up my copy in Stockholm for abour four quid a few months back, and it was well worth it.
Speaking of Badfinger, here they are in 1972 being introduced by a not yet smoothed over Kenny Rogers.
Friday, 5 August 2011
Zim Power
To get you in the mood for the weekend, here are three tracks from an excellent compilation called "Zim Singles Collection" that I picked up in Cape Town earlier in the year.
The compilation was released in 2007 although I'm not sure many of the tracks are of the same vintage - of those artists featured here New Black Montana were at their peak in the late 1980s and 1990s, while John Chibadura died in 1999. They all have that highly distinctive Zimbabwean "jit" guitar sound that could have been produced any time in the last 30 years or more.
You can pick up a copy of the album on the One World website if you are so inclined. It is an absolute bargain at R25 (about £2), although the postage will push the price up if you are outside South Africa - it still works out a bargain though.
"Kunditenderera" - Mabhawuwa Express
"Tambira Denga" - New Black Montana
"Unodadira Aniko" - John Chibadura
Here is someone else with a highly distinctive sound.
The compilation was released in 2007 although I'm not sure many of the tracks are of the same vintage - of those artists featured here New Black Montana were at their peak in the late 1980s and 1990s, while John Chibadura died in 1999. They all have that highly distinctive Zimbabwean "jit" guitar sound that could have been produced any time in the last 30 years or more.
You can pick up a copy of the album on the One World website if you are so inclined. It is an absolute bargain at R25 (about £2), although the postage will push the price up if you are outside South Africa - it still works out a bargain though.
"Kunditenderera" - Mabhawuwa Express
"Tambira Denga" - New Black Montana
"Unodadira Aniko" - John Chibadura
Here is someone else with a highly distinctive sound.
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Jackie's Back
About ten days ago I featured Jackie DeShannon's version of Neil Young's "Only Love Will Break My Heart" in a post featuring seven versions of that song. And a few days after that, in a moment of what Sting would no doubt call synchronicity, her brand new album popped into my in-box, courtesy of our dear friends at ReviewShine. Called "When You Walk In The Room", the album comes out on Rock Beat Records on 27 September.
As you might guess from the title, the album finds Jackie reinterpreting some of her biggest hits and best songs. Sometimes that is a warning sign that you need to brace yourself for disappointment, like with those cheapo albums you used to get in Woolworths which had "re-recorded by the original artist" printed in tiny letters at the bottom of the back cover. But you need have no such fear in this case. Jackie is far too classy for that.
While you wouldn't say these are the definitive versions, they are sufficiently good and different that you can enjoy them in their own right without comparing them unfavourably to the originals. There is a fairly light touch production that really allows the quality of the songs and Jackie's voice to shine through. We all knew about the songs, but the way her voice has held up is a pleasant surprise. She sounds fantastic for a woman who released her first singles over 50 years ago. Actually, that is not correct. She sounds fantastic full stop - there is no need to qualify that comment at all.
"Don't Doubt Yourself Babe" - Jackie DeShannon
"Will You Stay In My Life" - Jackie DeShannon
As a bonus, here are some weird and wonderful cover versions of some of her biggest songs. They include a Swamp Dog soul production from the early 1970s, some Uruguayan 1960s beat music, some contemporary Japanese pop-punk, and an oddly beautiful version of the old Marianne Faithfull hit "Come And Stay With Me". I had never anticipated using the phrase "oddly beautiful" to describe music produced by the former leader of the Sex Gang Children, but there you are.
"Put A Little Love In Your Heart" - Raw Spitt
"Hay Una Extraña Expresión En Tus Ojos (When You Walk In The Room)" - Los Iracundos
"Breakaway" - Psycho Food Eaters
"Come And Stay With Me" - Andi SexGang
While on the subject of vintage Jackies (or Jacquis), I had the great pleasure of seeing the original Pentangle line-up play at the Royal Festival Hall last night. They were utterly wonderful, and Jacqui McShee - like Jackie DeShannon - still sounds great in her mid-60s. If you ask nicely I may post of few of their old tracks up here in the future. But for now you'll have to make do with this 1970 clip of "House Carpenter". With Bert Jansch on banjo and John Renbourn on sitar, this was one of the many highlights last night.
As you might guess from the title, the album finds Jackie reinterpreting some of her biggest hits and best songs. Sometimes that is a warning sign that you need to brace yourself for disappointment, like with those cheapo albums you used to get in Woolworths which had "re-recorded by the original artist" printed in tiny letters at the bottom of the back cover. But you need have no such fear in this case. Jackie is far too classy for that.
While you wouldn't say these are the definitive versions, they are sufficiently good and different that you can enjoy them in their own right without comparing them unfavourably to the originals. There is a fairly light touch production that really allows the quality of the songs and Jackie's voice to shine through. We all knew about the songs, but the way her voice has held up is a pleasant surprise. She sounds fantastic for a woman who released her first singles over 50 years ago. Actually, that is not correct. She sounds fantastic full stop - there is no need to qualify that comment at all.
"Don't Doubt Yourself Babe" - Jackie DeShannon
"Will You Stay In My Life" - Jackie DeShannon
As a bonus, here are some weird and wonderful cover versions of some of her biggest songs. They include a Swamp Dog soul production from the early 1970s, some Uruguayan 1960s beat music, some contemporary Japanese pop-punk, and an oddly beautiful version of the old Marianne Faithfull hit "Come And Stay With Me". I had never anticipated using the phrase "oddly beautiful" to describe music produced by the former leader of the Sex Gang Children, but there you are.
"Put A Little Love In Your Heart" - Raw Spitt
"Hay Una Extraña Expresión En Tus Ojos (When You Walk In The Room)" - Los Iracundos
"Breakaway" - Psycho Food Eaters
"Come And Stay With Me" - Andi SexGang
While on the subject of vintage Jackies (or Jacquis), I had the great pleasure of seeing the original Pentangle line-up play at the Royal Festival Hall last night. They were utterly wonderful, and Jacqui McShee - like Jackie DeShannon - still sounds great in her mid-60s. If you ask nicely I may post of few of their old tracks up here in the future. But for now you'll have to make do with this 1970 clip of "House Carpenter". With Bert Jansch on banjo and John Renbourn on sitar, this was one of the many highlights last night.
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